Exploring Frontiers of Thought in Walden

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Recommended: Henry David Thoreau and his ideas of nature

Exploring Frontiers of Thought in Walden

In his world-famous thought-provoking novel, Walden, Henry David Thoreau presents his readers with a simple, inspirational guide for living. Written beside the beautiful Walden pond and completely surrounded by an unencumbered natural world, Thoreau writes about his own relationship with the beauty that surrounds him. His book provides an outlet for everyone to learn from his lessons learned in nature, whether they be city-dwellers or his own neighbors. One of Thoreau's most prominent natural lessons running throughout his novel is that of his deeply rooted sense of himself and his connection with the natural world. He relates nature and his experiences within it to his personal self rather than society as a whole. Many times in the novel, Thoreau urges his readers to break away from their societal expectations and to discover for themselves a path that is not necessarily the one most trodden. He explains that everyone should "be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought (341)." Walden inspires its readers to break out of the mold of tradition, away from outwardly imposed expectations, and out of the loyalty to society over loyalty to oneself in order to find truth and self in nature.

One way that Thoreau urges his readers to find their true selves is making one's self the most important aspect of one's life. He does this by disregarding public opinion in favor of private opinion. He says, "Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself that it is which determines, or rather indicates his fate (110)." In other words, soci...

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...nd their connection with it to find a sense of self that is fresh and different from the past. He shows his readers that they may find truth in nature. He shows his reader that they may find freedom from the burden of tradition. He shows his reader that they may be an individual within society rather than a member of it. Most importantly, though, with all of these, Thoreau teaches his readers that everyone can be a Columbus of thought.

Sources Cited and Consulted:

"Henry David Thoreau." umsa.umd.edu/thoreau/history.htm

Myerson, Joel. Emerson and Thoreau: The Contemporary Reviews. American Critical Archieves Series.

Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. Norton Anthology of American Literature. Shorter Fourth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton, 1995. 788-829.

"Thoreau's Walden: A New Image." Boston Sunday Globe 13 May 1979, sec. 3:13.

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